Thrust bearing for fluid flow machines



Dec. 29, 1964 J. A. PETRIE mausw BEARING FOR FLUID now MACHINES 2 Sheets-Shet 1 Filed March 19, 1962 Inventor CLZ-m,% MW

' Attorneys J. A. PETRIE I Ti-[RUST BEARING FOR mun FLOW MACHINES Fi led latch 19. 1962 Dec; 29, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Attorneys 3,163,353 nts??? 29+ 19 L I LOW CH ES signortto Rolls-RoyceLifiiitiEIDei-by; Eii'glhiid, a coin- This'invention concerns fluid flow machines such, for "example, as gasztnrbine engines. H V According to the present invention, there isprovided a fluid fiow 'machihe comprising rbtataljleshflting, one

or more bladed members whichare mounted on said shafting and which are, in'ioperation, subjectto 'thrust from the working fluid passing through said machine a thfiisthearing for said shafitingfsaid thrust hearing being arranged to be subjected to the thrust or net thrust from Biaded member or members, resilient means for urg- "ih'g said thrust bearing in a direction to opposethesaid fljni's'tio'r 'ne't thrust; and means for appl ing t o the thrust bearing one or more fiuid'iire'ssures whose, efiect, or net "fie'ct, is also to oppose the 'said'thr'ust ornet thrust.

Theth'rust bearing 'is preferably carried' by and Within an annular spring dia hragm which extends'ra'diallyof the machine and is s'o'biased as resiliently to oppose the sir-a m and clow'ris't'reamsides of 'the diaphragm to the :ia'i'Essifies p evailin respectively downstream "and up- *s'treainof"thediaphragm.

'The said thrbine 'ortii'rbine staeinay be -meuntecl on which i'shhlinedto' a'shaft carryinga Compressor th 'en'gihe. 'Thecoini'res'sorimay bean auxiliary oompre's'shi; the cb'rhfifess'ed'air from which is -notemployed in the operation of th'efeng'ine. V

V Tfiafsgid snan'sna "s'nanm nia bem'qtinted concentriany with 'fesiiect 6o afs'haft carrying a "main compressor M ma 1 V as cpnipiessar ahd the auki'li'ary cjorhgs in which;

thefls'tziic tureoffl REI tinia lafger s'eale; A

V FlGURE a is; view looking Via the Hifctionof the arrowfiofflGURE 2, and

. FIGURES, 4,,aijnd 5 are waggiwgyseanqm taken 'respeeti elyfon the l-inejs4'4fand 5 otffiGURE 3. In FIGURE 1' there is shown afgasiturbinefenginei153 which may, for example, be ihounted yerticallyiin an aircraft (nots hown) and which isa ptedfto supply compressed air forthe operation of-blown flaps (not shown) on said aircraft. V L

' 'Theehgin'e '10 has an engine casing 11 Within which is rotatably rnounted a shaft 12. The shaft 12, which is jonrnalled within a front bearing 13 and. a rear hearing 14, carries a main comiaressor 15 and a main turbine 16.

by hollow str ts 2'5 ach of whichfis main 'Icomprss'iSrQi'SQaIid the auxiliary compressor 18,,the a' k h latter being siip'plied ot a conduit t shown)! by ineans ofwhich itrnay riass tolthe above non of thefs aiid enema/1t lightweight const'r s ng ged (b fi e s fi s w 72551111 in has; thatthe than? the hearing 2 '6 5g s'tipiiorted hem the 23, 22 1, as n .7 1,..iw. n of 'aeriiifo shine. lfidliiit'e on the shaft 22 is an auyliliar'y'tiirbine'zfi. I

The casing 1 1 has a haying inlets 23, esp I c and which com atewith the a' 'ular opening )7. The annular "ope g 21 ma befo ded fnii th an feuter protective i'ne'h (not shown) to prevent the in ress of debris. V j

'Moiinted withinfthe dasi'iig llfa'nd "aligned with the annular opeiiing '27 are gin' de plate" which resbec'tiyely ga s'esirom thefc'zonibiis v y sii/elythrough the main t ir rife 16and'the'a1ixiliaryturbiiieie'and thenceto here. 7, M V

The auxiliary t' 'bihe 2 6 am/es "theshaft "11 Land heiioe qmpressedby the or to some other jioi Y v I The engine 10 is refe'rably 'afdapt for yery short periods diii'ihg 've Cal construction and its compressois '15, 13', jrnay be made of synthetic resi 'riiaterihl. spite howeyer bf j this H V on the engine "may be 'such as "to produce a large'quan iiybf air. gThe. th i ddu dl the rnain turbihe tame infofia dsife Hire wards the main hmp'r'essor ls (ilefitowards thje'right vided to deal with this'thrust. Thfe of the auxiliary e'rhpies soi' ii 'is sharedbetwfen the bearings 'w, 21. 1 The thrust of is in l-adowns t reain air cvisnne, 'towards lgh the ainiiiaiyhfrbinefis mwe i whieh 79 13, its share of this thrust 'itis'inbfihtd' as 'dscribf 'd ifmnediatelybelow k a v The bearing izsh'a's an otter face 2; (FIGURE?) Which is carriedfby'and P1131211? ,7. whi h X lal tween a ring 34, whichis dishosed onthedownstr'eeinrside of the diaphragm,.and an inwardly extending 'an nillar disposed on thefu ps't r e'am side or the diap rag 33. The

ring 36 is secured ,to the roots of stator blades 37, and

allows the stator hlades37 to ex and radially without distorting the diaphragm 33.

Annular casings'40,41, which are resfiectivlelydisposfed upstream and downstream of the diaphragm 33 beag l'at Mounted concentrically within the shaft 12 is a shaft 17 their inner circiiniferences, against the hut'er' racezfa'l The outer circumferences of the annular'Icasin gs i-il, 41

reb ltd o h "a mb y c' ian a m 33, T na 3 and annular flange 35 by a filui'alitylof'angularlyfspaced apart bolts 42 (FIG. 3). The annular casings 40, 41thus s 31 walls am; an arm-um: s nag fdiaa 3 define with the diaphragm 33 an upstream chamber 43 and a downstream chamber 44.

The diaphragm 33 is provided, between each pair of adjacent bolts 42, with a hole 45. Alternate holes 45 communicate with holes 46 in the casing 40, holes 47 in the annular flange 35, and holes 48 in the ring 34. The

holes 48 extendtothe inner circumference of the ring 34 whereas the holes 47 do not extend to the inner circumference of the annular flange 35. Thus gases on the upstream side of the radially flexible ring 36 and annular casing may pass throughthe said alternate holes and the holes 46, 47, 48 and enter the chamber 44 so as to act on the downstream side of the diaphragm 33.

The holes 45 betweenthe said alternate holes communicate with holes 50 in the casing 41, holes 51 in the ring 34, and holes 52 in the flange 35. The holes 52 extend to the inner circumference of the annular flange 35 whereas the holes 50 do not extend to the inner circumference of the ring 34, whereby the gases on the downstream side of the radially flexible ring 36 and annular casing 41 may enter the chamber 43 so as to act on the upstream side of the diaphragm 33.

Since the pressure of the gases upstream of the diaphragm 33 is greater than that of those downstream there of, the diaphragm 33 will be subjected to a pressure differential acting in an upstream direction.

The diaphragm 33, in addition to being urged in an upstream direction by the pressure diflerential acting on it, is also resiliently biased in an upstream direction. The said resilient bias and pressure differential therefore acts in opposition to the thrust of the auxiliary turbine 26.

I claim:

1. A fluid flow machine comprising rotatable shafting, at least one bladed member which is mounted on said shafting and which is subjected to thrust from working fluid passing through said machine, a thrust bearing for said shafting, said thrust bearing being subjected to the thrust from the bladed member, resilient means for urging said thrust bearing in a direction to oppose said thrust, and means for applying to the thrust bearing at least one fluid pressure to oppose the said thrust.

2. A fluid flow machine comprising rotatable shafting, at least one bladed member which is mounted on said shafting and which is subjected to thrust from working fluid passing through said machine, a thrust bearing for said shafting, said thrust bearing being subjected to the thrust from the bladed member, an annular spring diaphragm within which thethrust bearing is mounted, the

diaphragm extending radially of the machine and being biased to oppose the said thrust, and means for applying to the thrust-bearing at least one fluid pressure to oppose the said thrust.

.3. A fluid flow machine comprising rotatable shafting, at least one bladed member which is mounted on said shafting and which is subjected to thrust from working fluid passing through said machine, a thrust bearing for 'said shafting, said thrust bearing being subjected to the thrust from the bladed member, an annular spring diaphragm within which the thrust bearing is mounted, the

- diaphragm extending radially of the engine and being biased to oppose said thrust, and means for subjecting the upstream and downstream'sides of the diaphragm to a relatively low and a relatively high pressure, respectively.

5. A gas turbine engine comprising rotatable shafting,

a turbine which is mounted on said shafting, a. thrust bearing, for said shafting, said thrust bearing being subjected to the thrust from said turbine, an annular spring diaphragm within which the thrust bearing is mounted, the diaphragm extending radially of the engine and being biased to oppose said thrust, means for subjecting the up stream and downstream sides of the diaphragm to a relatively low and a relatively high pressure, respectively, a shaft which is splined to said shafting, and an engine compressor carried by said shaft.

6. A gas turbine engine, comprising rotatable shafting,. a turbine which is mounted on said shafting, a thrust bear-.

ing for said shafting, said thrust bearing being subjected to the thrust from said turbine, an annular spring diaing for said shafting, said thrust bearing being subjected to the thrust from said turbine, an annular spring diaphragm within which the thrust bearing is mounted, the diaphragm extending radially of the engine and being biased to oppose said thrust, means for subjecting the upstream and downstream sides of the diaphragm to a relatively low and a relatively high pressure, respectively,

a shaft which is splined to said shafting, an auxiliary compressor which is carried by said shaft, means for leading the compressed air from the auxiliary compressor externally of the engine, a main compressor, a main turbine, and a shaft which carriessaid main compressor and main turbine and which is concentrically mounted with respect to the shaft carrying the auxiliary compressor.

to the thrust from said turbine, an. annular spring dia- 8. A gas turbine engine as claimed in claim 7 in which the main compressor and the auxiliary compressor are arranged with their inlets facing each other, air intake means being provided which are disposed between the main and auxiliary compressors and which are provided with walls which respectively direct the air into the inlets of the main and auxiliary compressor.

9. A fluid flow machine comprising rotatable shafting, at least one bladed member mounted on said shafting and which is subjected to thrust from working fluid passing through a fluid flow machine, a thrust bearing for said shafting, said thust bearing beingsubject to the thrust: from said bladed member, an annular spring discharge diaphragm supporting said thrust bearing within the same,

said diaphragm extending radially of the machine and being biased in a direction to oppose the thrust, a first annular casing on the upstream side of said diaphragm, said casing having its outer and inner periphery operatively supported by said diaphragm at radially spaced circumferences of the same and defining an upstream chamber, a second annular casing on the downstream side of said diaphragm, said second annular casing having its outer and inner periphery operatively supported by said diaphragm at radially spaced circumferences of the same and defining a downstream chamber, a first means for supplying a relatively high pressure from exteriorly of the P upstream chamber on the upstream side of said diaphragm to the downstream chamber and a second means for supplying a relatively low pressure from exteriorly of the downstream chamber on the downstream side of said diaphragm to the upstream chamber whereby a pressure differential acts on said diaphragm in a direction which said diaphragm is biased and opposes the thrust on said thrust bearing.

10. A fluid machine as claimed in claim 9 in which said shaft means includes at least one passageway open at one end to a space exte'riorly of said upstream casing and open at the other end to the downstream chamber,

and in which said second means includes at least one passageway open at one end to a space exteriorly of said downstream casing and open at the other end to the up stream chamber.

11. A gas turbine engine comprising: a casing, rotatable shafting positioned within said casing, a turbine mounted on said shafting, a thrust bearing for said shafting, means to operatively support said thrust bearing from said casing, said last-mentioned means including an annular ring operatively connected to said casing, an annular spring diaphragm connected to the interior periphery of said ring and to said thrust bearing, said spring diaphragm extending radially of the engine and biased to oppose the thrust of the engine acting on said bearing, a first annular casing on the upstream side of said diaphragm, said first annular casing having its outer and inner periphery operatively supported by said diaphragm on radially spaced circumferences of the same and defining an upstream chamber, a second annular casing on the downstream side of said diaphragm, said second annular casing having its outer and inner periphery operatively supported by said diaphragm on radially spaced circumferences of the same and defining a downstream chamber, a first means for supplying a relatively high pressure from upstream of the annular ring to the interior of the downstream chamber, and a second means for supplying a relatively low pressure from downstream of said annular ring to the interior of the upstream chamber whereby a pressure differential acts on said diaphragm to load the same in the same direction as the diaphragm is biased so as to oppose the thrust on said thrust bearing.

12. A gas turbine engine as claimed in claim 11 in which said annular ring is flexible in a radial direction.

13. A fluid flow machine as claimed in claim 11 in which said means to operatively support said thrust hearing from said casing further includes stator blading supported by said casing and extending radially inwardly thereof and connected to the outer periphery of said annular ring, and in which said annular ring is radially flexible.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 909,103 1/09 Morcom et a1 253--69 2,300,475 11/42 Ward 230--121 2,625,790 1/53 Petrie 6039.16 2,711,074 6/55 Howard 6039.3 1 2,746,671 5/56 Newcomb 25 369 FOREIGN PATENTS 773,499 4/57 Great Britain.

419,779 4/ 47 Italy.

SAMUEL LEVINE, Primary Examiner.

ABRAM BLUM, Examiner. 

6. A GAS TURBINE ENGINE, COMPRISING ROTATABLE SHAFTING, A TURBINE WHICH IS MOUNTED ON SAID SHAFTING, A THRUST BEARING FOR SAID SHAFTING, SAID THRUST BEARING BEING SUBJECTED TO THE THRUST FROM SAID TURBINE, AN ANNULAR SPRING DIAPHRAGM WITHIN WHICH THE THRUST BEARING IS MOUNTED, THE DIAPHRAGM EXTENDING RADIALLY OF THE ENGINE AND BEING BIASED TO OPPOSED SAID THRUST, MEANS FOR SUBJECTING UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM SIDES OF THE DIAPHRAGM TO A RELATIVELY LOW AND A RELATIVELY HIGH PRESSURE, RESPECTIVELY, A SHAFT WHICH IS SPLINED TO SAID SHAFTING, AN AUXILIARLY COMPRESSOR WHICH IS CARRIED BY SAID SHAFT, AND MEANS FOR LEADING THE COMPRESSED AIR FROM THE AUXILIARY COMPRESSOR EXTERNALLY OF THE ENGINE. 